According to Politico, one of the attendees said Bush was asked
about the prospect of a presidential run in 2016, and the former
Florida governor acknowledged he is “thinking about running
for president.”

Bush added that he would make a decision sometime after the 2014
midterm elections are over later this year.

After an attendee told Bush they hope he will decide to run, he
jokingly asked, "Would you call and tell my mom?" Last
year, Barbara Bush told NBC “we've had enough Bushes” in
the White House.

Although speculation regarding Bush’s political ambitions has
been a popular topic of discussion, recent polling suggests he
has some formidable obstacles to overcome if he’s to become the
United States’ 45th president.

According to a new Economist/YouGov poll, the general public
isn’t excited about the prospect of having a third member of the
Bush family assume the presidency. Of those who had an
unfavorable opinion of Bush, many expressed concern over the idea
of having a “dynasty” at the presidential level – something that
may come into play should Hillary Clinton decide to run as well –
and were also wary of ties to his brother and his conservative
values.

Meanwhile, conservatives themselves aren’t quite sold on Bush,
either, with only 18 percent of them telling pollsters they want
him to run in 2016.

Recently, however, Bush made headlines for diverging from
mainstream Republican opinion on topics such as education policy
and immigration reform. On Wednesday he noted that his support
for Common Core – federal education standards that specify what
students across the country should know by the time they finish
each grade in school – is not popular among potential Republican
opponents like Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

Bush also drew the ire of some conservatives when he spoke at an
event commemorating the 25th anniversary of George H.W. Bush’s
presidency earlier this month, when he said immigrants come to
the US illegally out of an “act of love.”

“The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country
because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country
because their families -- the dad who loved their children -- was
worried that their children didn’t have food on the table.”

“Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony,” he
added. “It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to
your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of
crime that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile
people up that people are actually coming to this country to
provide for their families."

At Wednesday’s fundraiser, Bush was advised not to “back down”
from his position.

“Why would I back down from it?” he asked. “It’s the
right thing to do…we’ve got to be an inclusive party.”